Complaints About Airport Noise

Re “Noise From Burbank Airport,” Valley letters, March 26.

The gentleman from the Burbank side of the Burbank Airport who responded to a rather heartfelt letter to the editor the previous week regarding airport noise should have his hand slapped. He likens people on the western and southern sides of the airport who currently bear the brunt of airport departure noise to those who move to a waste disposal area and then complain about the smell.

The airport really must be viewed as a problem from a Valleywide perspective.

Now that we’ve had a serious accident (which could have been infinitely more serious), the airport and especially the proposed expansion of the airport need to be viewed as a liability to the San Fernando Valley at large rather than an asset. (This includes all the people in Burbank who complain weekly at their City Hall about incoming airport noise and the airlines’ consistent breaking of “voluntary” curfews.)

At this point the idea of expanding the use of the airport, expanding the potential danger to the community, and any increase of incoming and outgoing jet noise should be anathema to any concerned citizen of this area. The problems and complaints have only in part to do with living under noise pollution and greatly to do with the possibility of more and more noise, jet pollution and danger in the future.

It is only prudent to complain and do what is possible to prevent the further damage to the quality of life in one’s own backyard. I hope the gentleman from Burbank understands that these are far from idle complaints from the oversensitive.

ARTHUR HANKET

North Hollywood